More Macs heading to work

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 11 March 2009 03:18

IT Industry - Market

Almost three-quarters of enterprise IT administrators recently surveyed said they expect to increase the number of Macs in their organisations.

Since 1984 the role of Macs in the enterprise has variously waxed and waned. But the growth in Apple's share of the market seems to be translating to increased corporate interest.

The Enterprise Desktop Alliance (EDA) conducted a survey during November and December 2008 to find out about levels of commitment to the Mac, the importance of Windows-Mac integration, and priorities related to Mac integration.

The EDA comprises companies offering enterprise software that streamlines the deployment, integration and management in Windows-managed IT environments, so its interest is clear.

Given the way invitations were distributed, it is likely that few, if any, respondents were from organisations that do not use Macs at all.

The 314 survey respondents were IT administrators working in businesses, governments, colleges and school districts, with almost 60 percent managing 100 or more Macs in enterprise-class organisations.

Nearly half said more than 500 Macs were currently deployed within their organisations.

Why do they use Macs? 27 percent said it was due to employee preference, 25 percent mentioned productivity, and 14 percent cited the lower total cost of ownership.

SO what are the main problem areas? Find out on page 2.